Judy Anne Mikovits (born April 1, 1958) is an American former research scientist who is known for her discredited medical claims, such as that murine endogenous retroviruses are linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). As an outgrowth of these claims, she has engaged in anti-vaccination activism, promoted conspiracy theories, and been accused of scientific misconduct. She has made false claims about vaccines, COVID-19, and CFS, among others. As research director of CFS research organization Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI) from 2006 to 2011, Mikovits led an effort that reported in 2009 that a retrovirus known as xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) was associated with CFS and might have a causal role. However, following widespread criticism, the paper was retracted on December 22, 2011, by the journal Science. In November 2011, she was arrested and held on charges that she stole laboratory notebooks and a computer from WPI, but she was released after five days and the charges were later dropped. In 2020, Mikovits promoted conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic via the internet video Plandemic, which made claims that are either false or not based on scientific evidence. Education and early career In 1980, Mikovits received her BA degree in chemistry from the University of Virginia. According to Mikovits, she worked as a laboratory technician at Upjohn Pharmaceuticals in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1986 to 1987, and departed after a dispute related to the company's bovine growth hormone product. In 1988, she worked as a laboratory technician at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Frederick, Maryland under Francis Ruscetti, who later served as her PhD supervisor, and in 1991 she received a PhD in biochemistry from George Washington University. Her PhD thesis was titled "Negative Regulation of HIV Expression in Monocytes". Mikovits stated that she worked as postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of David Derse from 1993 to 1994. By 1996, Mikovits was employed as a scientist at Ruscetti's Laboratory of Leukocyte Biology at the NCI. In May 2001, Mikovits left the NCI to work at EpiGenX Biosciences in Santa Barbara, CA, a drug-discovery company. By late 2005, Mikovits was working as a bartender at the Pierpont Bay Yacht Club in Ventura, California. In 2006, she became the Research Director of the Whittemore Peterson Institute, located in Reno, Nevada. After she published a paper in 2009, she became embroiled in controversy. She was fired from the Whittemore Peterson Institute in 2011.